Sewing machine



July 15, 1930. w D 1,770,870

SEWING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1929 Patented July 15, 1930 UNITED vsTA-Tes P rsN-rornce ARTHUR HENRY ARNOLD "WIND RAM or ,aoHAuuEsBune, 'rnANsvAAr), sourn AFRICA, ASSIGNOR 'ro UNITED snon MACHINERY CORPORATION, or ra'rnnsou,

NEW JERSEY, A conronn'rron or New JEBSEY SEWING MACHINE Application Vfiled August 19, 1929, Serial fie.

This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to sewing machines and is particularly concerned with machines which are adapted for sewing travelling bags, suit cases or the like of leather or other suitable material. For the sake of brevity the term bag is used hereinafter as intended to include bags, suit cases, att-ach cases and like articles. r i in I It is customary, in the manufacture of certain types of bags, to make the body ofthe bagof'cardboard or other suitable material and to cover the cardboard-body with acovering of thin leather, leather cloth or the like.

tightly over the frame with the tips of his machine. It, will be understoodhowever When making such bagsitis usual to insert a metal reinforcing 'frainefinthe mouth of the bag to strengthen the bag to wrap: the covering material (that i is the leather or leather cloth) over th e reinforcing frameto hide it and finally to stitch the covering inaterial to the body of the bag behind the metal frame. The said reinforcing frames are oftenformedof an iron orsteelstrip some half an inch inlwidth and about an eighth. of an inch thick. I x J It is desirable, in order to form a neatedge to the mouth of such a bag and also to retain the framefse'curely in position in the bag near tothe mouth thereof, that. the covering shouldlbe drawn tightlyover the frame before it is sewn to the body ofIthe' bag and for thispurpose the operator of the sewing machine which is to stitchthe materialto the body of the bag behind the, reinforcing frame usually pressesthe covering material" fingers: as he presents the, bag to the sewing that, as that particular position ofjthe covering which the operator happensto bepress ing over the frame is advanced: towardsthe needle, the operator has to remove his hand out of the sewingvlo calityi and has therefore y to release his grip on the covering material and to re-engage the work atanother por tion farther away ,from the sewing locality.

386,778, and in Great'Britain July 5 1 928.

covering consequently tends tobecome slack where it passes over the frame before it is sewn tothebo'dy of the bag. If it is sewn to the work in this slack condition the mouth of the bag or suit case is liable to present an unfinished and-undesirable appearance.

', The present invention has as one of its aims to overcome the: .difficulty above set forth and provides an arrangement whereby when the covering material is totbe sewn to the body of the bag it, may ibe'kept tight over the frame at thelsewing locality while it is being'so secured to lthe body According to one of its several features the, present-invention is concerned {with the provision in or for a sewing machinefor the purpose described, of a clamping device operating automatically in timed relation to the operation of the sewing instrumentalities and adapted to clamp the material against the bag at a-region on that side of the re:

'inforcing frame, further from themouth of the bag and toretain the margin ofthe covering securely'against the body while itijs sewn thereto. V s .y

ccording to another of. its several features the present invention-provides means, in a sewing machine for the. purposedescribed, toiengage the margin of the covering material near the sewing" locality and to impart to .thesamefa tension directed inwardly away from the mouth of thevbag'dur- "ing the sewing operation.

In order that the objects and the'several features oft-he present invention may more;

clearly beunderstood there will now bede scribed with reference to the accompanying drawings 'and by way of example onlyan illustrative; arrangement in which the severalfeatures of'the presentinventi'on are embodied in convenient-forms g In the drawings trative arrangement incorporated in a sew ing machine of conventional -type and look s h 'f l t o a j Figure 2 is aside.- elevation looking from theleft of Figurel;

Figural? isfa plan vfiew' of oertainofthel e parts shown in Figures 1 andZ; s

Figure l is faiview. showing the said illus- Figure 4 is a detail view showing, on an enlarged scale, certain of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2.

The sewing machine, of which the drawings show only certain parts, is of the wellly the needle also, have a lateral component of motion carrying the needle 4 lengthwise along the slot 10 while through the work to impart feeding movement to'the latter in a direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. After this feeding movement has been completed, the work is clamped against the work support 8 by the downward movement of a rising and falling presser-foot 12 correspondingly slotted to receive the needle, and the needle is thereafter withdrawn downwardly fromthe work and is returned to its initial position by reverse movement of arm 6 ready to rise and pass through the work again. The various figures of the drawings indicate the relation of the parts after the needle-has risen andpierced the work and before the commencement .of the feeding movement. An awl 14 abovev the work support is arranged to descend in timed relation to the movements of the'needle and to pierce a hole in thework at that place through which the needle will'pass as it rises, thereby re lieving the needle of the necessity of piercinv the hole itself. A looper 16 also located above the worksupport is given a more or less circular movement about the point of the needle as the latterreaches the top of its stroketo lay the thread within the hook of the needle in familiar manner. Thereafter,

the needle as it retires downwardly pulls the thread through the work and sets thestitch.

A thread cast-off 18 and a needle guide 2000-.

operate with theneedle to perform their re-' spective functions,being carried by a second rising and falling arm-22, which is given a lateral swinging movement in company with the needle-carrying arm 6.. All of the parts so far described are those customarily used in the well-known Puritan type of machine,

and form no part of the present invention. H

" In accordance with the present invention in the form illustrated herein, there-is provided a clamping member indicated generally by the reference character24 having a serrated face to engage the under surface of the work, that is, the reversely foldedmarginal "portion 26 which has been bent around the reinforcing member 28 (Fig. 2). This member is mounted between lugs30 on the end of the arm 22, and is supported by means of a spring 32 confinedbetwoen the inner end of a recess, extending vertically upward within the member from its lower end, and the upper end of a stem 34 entered into such recess and having its lower end pivoted upon a pin 86 fixed in the arm 22. By means of the spring 32 the member 24 tends to be pressed upward at all times toward the presser-foot 12. An adjusting screw 88 threaded through one of the lugs 30 engages at its lower end with a ledge 40 extending laterally from. the bottom of the member 24, to limit the extent of its upward movement. A plunger 42 fitting within a recess in the member 24 slightly forward of the pivot pin 36, is urged against the surface of arm 22 by means of an expanding spring 44 confined between its inner end and the end of the recess in which it is located, and tends to give a rearward tipping motion to the member'24 about the axis of the pin 36.

The serrated work engaging surface 46 of the member 24 is L-shaped in plan and designed to extend forward of the advanced end of presser-foot 12, exceeding the length'of the work support 8, as well as across the line on which the needle will'lay the stitches, so that it will engage the workjover a considerable area. The adjusting screw 38 is in" tended to be set to bring the work engaging surface 46 approximately'level with the upper face of the work support '8 just as the needle enters the work. The action of the two springs 32 and 44' previously referred to, in tipping the member 24 about the axis of pin :36, brings the head of such member against the front of the work support 8 at a inc an overhanging inclined surface 48, the contacting face of the head being correspondingly beveled as indicated at 49. Since the work support 8 is stationary, an upward movement of the member 24 will impart to its head or upper portion a lateral component of motion caused by the cam action of this inclined surface 48 upon the co-engaging surface 49 of the head. This lateral component of motion is directed forwardly of the machine at right angles to the direction of feed of the work through the latter by the movement of the needle and in a direction to draw the inturned marginal portion 26 of the covering more tightly about the reinforcing member 28 as theserrated face 46 engages such portion. A i

stop 50 on one of the lugs 3Q;limits the range of forward movement of the inember24.

is insertedin'the machine to rest upon the work support 8 with the inturned marginal portion 26'drawn tightly around the reinforcing member 28 by the operators fingers, and with the reinforcing member close to the line along which the needle is to formlthe stitches.

The resser-foot is then lowered, and the stitch forming cycle begins withthe descent of the awl 14'and the ascent of the needle through the hole left by the awl upon its withdrawalto receive in its hook the thread placed there by the looper. As the needle enters the work, the arm 22 carrying the castoff 18 and theneedle guide 20 is also raised,

carrying the adjusting screw 38 upwardly and releasing the member 24 from the re straint imposed upon it by such screws engagement with the ledge 40, and also causing the springs 32 and 44 to urge the member 24 more strongly upward. Next the presserfoot 12 is lifted to free the work for its feed ing movement effected by the sidewise swinging of the needle 4, and as the pressure of the presser-foot is relaxed the member24 rises also, lifting the work from the work suppport and holding it against the raised resser-foot. During this upward movement of the mem ber 24, the engagement of the bevelled surfaces respectively on the Worksupport and the head of member 24 impart to such head a forward movement, laterally directed with respect to the feeding movement, which causes its serrated work engaging face 46 to impart a pull upon the inturned'margin 26 tending to wrap it moretightly about the enfolde'd reinforcing member 28. The clamping foot 24 moves with the needle lengthwise- 'of the seam being formed while in enga again onto the work support 8,' and the needle and the member 24 are withdrawn downwardly from engagement with the work and returned to their initial positions ready for the formation of another stitch. During the downward movement of the needle, the stitch is set in the work just in frontof thereinforcing member in the position indicated in Fig. 2; As the member 24 is withdrawn downwardly from engagement with the work,"

it is guided in its movement by the bevelled face of the work support, the spring 44 serv ing to urge the clamping foot against this face at all times.

* The clamping foot, it will be 7 the reinforcing member'28 and'around the edge of thecardboardor other strengthen ing material 52 in the following manner First, it clamps the inturned margin ofthe" covering material firmly against: thefmain portion of the material as the work arrives at the sewing point whether the .presser-foot be up to permit feeding or down to hold the work against the worksupport, and there-- fore retains in the inturned margin of the understood, therefore acts to prevent slackness of the covering material where it is wrapped around covering material through-the sewing operation the tension which the operators fingers give it as it travels through the machine; secondly, it imparts an additional tension .to

the inturned margin by the lateral component of its movement, at right angles to the direc tion of feed, as it rises, following up the presser-foot during the sewing operation, and thus tends to pull the material of the covering past the needle at a point in advance'of the latter, in a direction enfolding the reinforc ing member the more snugly; thirdly, it provents the covering'ma teria'l from being drawn toward the needle fromthe marginal portion by the act of setting the stitches andin fact causes the thread, as'the stitches are set, to

tighten the covering material somewhat by drawing the folded edge inwardly; fromthe outward, edge of the ba month where the material passes from'the reinforcing frame more especially since the needle, in setting the stitches has to draw the covering down on to the body of the bag behind the shoulder formed by the inner edge of the frame. It will be understood that, while the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a machine of the straight hooked needle type in which the needle is utilized to feed the work, the invention is not limited to use in this particularrtype of machine but may be embodied in hookedneedle machines in which the work is fed by the awl machines. a

*What is claimed as the invention is 1; A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including feeding means, and means acting upon one layer of the work whilethe needle is through the or in other typesof sewing work tomove such layer laterally with re- ;pegt to a second layer and to the direction of 2. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming and work feeding devices including a hooked needle and an awl, one of which acts to feed the work, a work support, a presserfoot movable towards and from-the work support and'raised from the work support during the feed, and a work-" clamping member engaging during the feed. the surface of the work opposite to that engaged by the presser-fo'ot andhaving a movement laterallywith respect to the movement ofthe work feeding device in the direction of feedwhile-in the work. 7 V

3-. A sewing machinehaving, in combina- .12 tion," stitch-forming and work feeding odevices including afhooked needle and an awl,

one of which acts to feed the work, a work support, a presser-foot movable towards'and i from the'work support and raisedfrom the -fwork support during the feed, and a work clamping member engaging during thefeed the surface of the work opposite to that ens gaged' by the presser-foot, moving with the i work during the feed and also having move ment laterally with respect to the movement of the work feeding device in the direction of feed While inthe work.

4. A sewing machine having, in combination, stitch-forming and work feeding devices including a hooked needle and an awl, one of which acts to feed the work, a Work support, a presser-foot movable towards and from the Work support and raised. from'the Work support during the feed, and a, workclamping member engaging the surface of the work opposite to that engaged by the presser-foot, relatively movable with respect to the work support and in cam-engagement with a surface upon the latter in a manner imparting a lateral component of movement to the work-clamping member.

In testimony whereof "I have signed my name to this specification. V ARTHUR HENRY ARNOLD WINDRAM. 

